Thursday, August 30, 2012
Welsh Ministers caught out in spin again
Welsh Labour Ministers often adopt the tactics of the most successful spin doctors to talk up their own record and most of the time they get away with it. However, as the Western Mail makes clear this morning, on the matter of meeting their own sustainability targets they have been well and truly caught bang to rights.
Friends of the Earth Cymru have claimed the Welsh Government’s own figures on sustainable development reveal a concerning lack of progress in key areas and that some of the Sustainable Development Indicators have been “skewed to give a favourable response”.
Of the 44 indicators, just 19 showed “clear improvement” while short-term changes in the bird population registered a “clear deterioration”. It is little wonder that Friends of the Earth have warned that not enough has been done to fight climate change:
The findings published yesterday showed “clear improvement” in areas such as household waste treatment, rural air quality, water resources management and electricity from renewable sources.
There was “little or no change” under headings such as wellbeing, walking and cycling, public transport use, urban air quality and employment.
Gareth Clubb of Friends of the Earth Cymru said: “This is a real mixed picture of results.
“On some of the biggest issues, we’re seeing a total lack of progress. So in the same week as melting of Arctic sea ice was confirmed to be the worst since records began, greenhouse gases in Wales shot up by 8% in the most recent year analysed.
“Some of the indicators are skewed to give a favourable response.
“For example, does anyone really think we’d be producing less renewable energy in 2012 than in 2003? The question to ask is are we on track to meet our targets?
“The answer is that we’re the basket case of the UK in terms of progress on renewables.
“These results demonstrate the importance of having a robust and ambitious Sustainable Development Bill in Wales, with a duty on bodies to act sustainably, and an independent commissioner to hold them to account for their actions.
“We can turn this situation around, but it will take strong political action to do so.”
As sustainability is a key government goal, this is very worrying criticism. It also applies to the economy. On that issue the Welsh Government claims that there has been a “clear improvement” in Gross Value Added (GVA), which is the measure used to rate economic productivity. However, the Welsh figure as a proportion of the UK average fell from 78% in 1997 to 74% in 2010.
Isn't it time for a little less spin and a bit more outcomes.
Friends of the Earth Cymru have claimed the Welsh Government’s own figures on sustainable development reveal a concerning lack of progress in key areas and that some of the Sustainable Development Indicators have been “skewed to give a favourable response”.
Of the 44 indicators, just 19 showed “clear improvement” while short-term changes in the bird population registered a “clear deterioration”. It is little wonder that Friends of the Earth have warned that not enough has been done to fight climate change:
The findings published yesterday showed “clear improvement” in areas such as household waste treatment, rural air quality, water resources management and electricity from renewable sources.
There was “little or no change” under headings such as wellbeing, walking and cycling, public transport use, urban air quality and employment.
Gareth Clubb of Friends of the Earth Cymru said: “This is a real mixed picture of results.
“On some of the biggest issues, we’re seeing a total lack of progress. So in the same week as melting of Arctic sea ice was confirmed to be the worst since records began, greenhouse gases in Wales shot up by 8% in the most recent year analysed.
“Some of the indicators are skewed to give a favourable response.
“For example, does anyone really think we’d be producing less renewable energy in 2012 than in 2003? The question to ask is are we on track to meet our targets?
“The answer is that we’re the basket case of the UK in terms of progress on renewables.
“These results demonstrate the importance of having a robust and ambitious Sustainable Development Bill in Wales, with a duty on bodies to act sustainably, and an independent commissioner to hold them to account for their actions.
“We can turn this situation around, but it will take strong political action to do so.”
As sustainability is a key government goal, this is very worrying criticism. It also applies to the economy. On that issue the Welsh Government claims that there has been a “clear improvement” in Gross Value Added (GVA), which is the measure used to rate economic productivity. However, the Welsh figure as a proportion of the UK average fell from 78% in 1997 to 74% in 2010.
Isn't it time for a little less spin and a bit more outcomes.
Comments:
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Suggest you take a look at this post by Syniadau - http://syniadau--buildinganindependentwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/not-as-bad-as-reported.html
# posted by 
: 5:17 PM
: 5:17 PM
This lack of progress should be explained, instead of spinning the facts, they should be offering reasons for why sustainability targets haven't been met and what they intend to do to correct things and get us back on track. Climate change is a worrying issue and the lack of effort on behalf of governments across the world scares me a little. Subsidies for purchasing renewable technology from companies like WDS Cardiff does help but with island countries being submerged into the sea, we need to address climate change immediately and with far more gusto.
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# posted by : 11:50 AM
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